Female Protagonist Assistance System

Chapter 20 : . Killing Intent

"This is... a first-grade alchemist?!"

Seeing the professional badge on the man's chest, the surrounding crowd exclaimed in shock. These exclamations made the smile on his face grow even wider.

"I am Liu Xi, a first-grade alchemist. Would the young ladies care to accompany me? If there's anything in the market district that two of you fancy, please charge it to me," the man said, his demeanor arrogant yet frivolous, attempting to put on the air of a refined young gentleman.

Xiao Yu's pretty face changed slightly. Given her temperament, she certainly wouldn't go shopping with this shifty-looking fellow. She immediately responded coldly: "We're not free. Find someone else."

With that, she grabbed Gu Xun'er's hand and turned to leave.

As soon as they turned, several burly men emerged from the crowd, blocking their way with vicious grins.

Looking at the men blocking their path, Xiao Yu's face darkened. She turned back and coldly addressed Jia Lie Ao: "This is our Xiao family's territory. Aren't you being a bit too brazen?"

"Heh, the Xiao family? Are they that strong? They've just regained some popularity with some Yu Ling Powder. If I wanted, I could easily cripple your Xiao family. Spring Return Powder was just a healing medicine I made casually," Liu Xi said proudly, smoothing his snow-white sleeves.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu's pretty face flushed with anger, but she didn't lash out verbally. Knowing the power of alchemists, she dared not speak too harshly, lest she bring unnecessary trouble to the Xiao family.

However, while Xiao Yu was wary of Liu Xi, it didn't mean Xiao Han and Gu Xun'er would be. One was a seventh-grade alchemist, and the other was the disciple of a seventh-grade alchemist and the young miss of the ancient Gu clan. How could they fear a mere first-grade alchemist?

Lightly raising her eyes to look at the smug-faced Liu Xi, Gu Xun'er parted her small lips. Her voice was light and pleasant, but her words stunned everyone: "Trash is trash. Even if it wears the skin of an alchemist, it's still just trash."

Xiao Yu: "..."

Xiao Yu looked at Xiao Han with an indescribable expression: "Has Xun'er been corrupted by you?"

Xiao Han: "..."

How is this my fault?!

The street fell briefly silent, many people looking dumbfounded. This seemingly elegant and charming young lady's insults were no less biting than others'.

Being so bluntly mocked in public by Gu Xun'er, the narrow-minded Liu Xi's smile gradually faded from his face. He said darkly: "In all these years, you're the first person who dared to speak to me like this."

Gu Xun'er felt a headache coming on.

She really didn't understand how a mere first-grade alchemist could have such arrogance. The way he spoke, it was as if he were the descendant of a Dou Di.

"Jia Lie Ao, take action. I originally wanted to use proper means, but unfortunately, they don't appreciate it," Liu Xi waved his hand, his face gloomy as he spoke coldly.

"Uh..." Jia Lie Ao was stunned, rubbing his head in distress. "Brother Liu Xi, our Jia Lie family can't afford to offend the Xiao family now."

"The Xiao family?" Liu Xi sneered disdainfully. "As long as I can get her, I'll help you truly crush the Xiao family. Besides Spring Return Powder, I can refine two or three other pills. Once I make them, I guarantee the Xiao family will return to their previous state."

Hearing this, Jia Lie Ao was stunned again. He hadn't expected this fellow to so easily reveal his hand. While secretly delighted, he waved his hand: "Capture them!"

At Jia Lie Ao's command, the more than twenty burly men behind him immediately surrounded Xiao Han's group of five with fierce expressions.

These men were all two-star Dou Practitioner. Although their side had Xiao Yu, a three-star Dou Practitioner, and Gu Xun'er, a seven-star Dou Practitioner, the opponents were numerous and focused most of their attention on Gu Xun'er.

Xiao Han blended in, and with everyone's attention on Gu Xun'er and Xiao Yu, the two Dou Practitioner, no one noticed that the vast majority of the Jia Lie family guards were knocked down by Xiao Han with a single palm strike, unable to get up.

As a seven-star Dou Practitioner who had been rigorously trained by Xiao Han for nearly a year, Gu Xun'er's combat ability had greatly improved. Even surrounded by a group of two-star Dou Practitioner, she handled them with ease. So it wasn't long before all the guards were knocked down, clutching their injured parts and rolling on the ground in pain.

Seeing all the guards he brought were dealt with, Jia Lie Ao instinctively took a step back, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Liu Xi wasn't faring much better. He was only a four-star Dou Practitioner. He had thought that with his status as an alchemist and the Jia Lie family's military might, taking these girls would be easy. Who knew their cultivation levels would be so high?

"Get lost!" Xiao Yu didn't want to overly offend this first-grade alchemist, so she just lightly barked.

Liu Xi and Jia Lie Ao hurriedly left, but before leaving, Liu Xi left a threatening remark:

"Just you wait! For angering me, I'll make your Xiao family pay the price!"

Xiao Han watched Liu Xi's hastily retreating figure with deep eyes.

Revenge?

Not going to happen.

Due to this incident with Liu Xi and Jia Lie Ao, Xiao Yu and the others lost much of their enthusiasm for shopping. After browsing a bit more, they returned home.

That night, in a room in the back courtyard of the Jia Lie family compound, Xiao Han lurked in the shadows, coldly observing an unconscious young woman on the large bed.

In the original story, Liu Xi was killed jointly by Gu Xun'er and Xiao Yan because Liu Xi coveted Gu Xun'er and humiliated Xiao Yan. Now, Xiao Yan wasn't involved at all and might not even know who Liu Xi was. As for Gu Xun'er, she probably didn't even consider a first-grade alchemist worth her attention. So the task of killing Liu Xi and cutting off the Jia Lie family's path fell to her.

Soon, the door opened, accompanied by Liu Xi's somewhat grating laughter.

Liu Xi almost impatiently closed the door behind him and quickly approached. Seeing the beautiful maid on the bed, he licked his lips and reached to remove his clothes: "Little beauty, tonight let this master..."

His words were cut short as he froze in place.

A figure completely wrapped in a black robe slowly emerged from the dark corner, stopping about two meters from Liu Xi.

Liu Xi naturally felt the cold sensation from behind, the chill of approaching death making him instinctively want to flee. But for some reason, his body had turned to stone, unable to move.

Liu Xi opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but found he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Then, he heard an old man's hoarse voice from behind: "First-grade alchemist... heh, nothing special."

Next, the person extended a hand, a cluster of blood-red lightning dancing on their finger. Though only the size of a thumbnail, it contained terrifying energy.

The person gave a cold laugh, then waved their hand. The blood-colored lightning instantly left their hand, enveloping Liu Xi like a flash. In just a moment, before he could even cry out, the alchemist became a charred corpse.

A small porcelain bottle rolled out from Liu Xi's clothes, stopping at the black-robed person's feet. Without even glancing at it, they crushed the bottle underfoot. The pale green pill inside was ground to dust, mixing with the dirt.

The moment the pill was crushed, the corpse suddenly shook, then shattered into a pile of ashes.

The black-robed person coldly dusted off their hands. A silver light flashed beneath their feet, and they vanished from the spot.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

After Xiao Han killed Liu Xi, the Jia Lie family's market district began to decline. The disappearance of Alchemist Liu Xi caused some commotion in the Jia Lie family, but the family head was not without methods. These days, the market district remained open, pills continued to be sold, almost indistinguishable from before.

This Jia Lie Bi truly lived up to his position as a family head, actually managing to suppress this news. But could he suppress it for a month as easily as a day? Once the remaining healing medicines were sold out, what could he do then?

However, this no longer had anything to do with Xiao Han. The Jia Lie family was just a minor character in the early plot, not worth too much attention.

Now, what she needed to focus on was the upcoming Jia Nan Academy recruitment.

As one of the renowned advanced institutions on the Dou Qi Continent, Jia Nan Academy was almost a holy land in the hearts of all young people. As long as one could graduate from the academy, their future path would be smooth. Not only could they return home in glory, but they would also be hotly pursued by various factions.

In a few days, the recruitment instructors from Jia Nan Academy would arrive in Wutan City. So now, all attention in Wutan City had shifted from the two major families half a month ago to Jia Nan Academy.

Most of the later plot would unfold in Jia Nan Academy, and the Fallen Heart Flame was also within Jia Nan Academy. So whether it was Gu Xun'er or Xiao Han, they both had to enter Jia Nan Academy.

Gu Xun'er originally thought that since she had already taken a master, she didn't need to apply to Jia Nan Academy. But Xiao Han, using Han Xiao's identity, told her that entering Jia Nan Academy was necessary, but it wouldn't interfere with her training. As for how to manage it, she would take care of it, and Gu Xun'er didn't need to worry.

Although this recruitment team was stationed in Wutan City, their area of responsibility included several cities near Wutan City. So when Xiao Han and the others rushed to the designated recruitment square the next day, what they saw was a sea of people that seemed endless.

On the huge square, waves of clamor rose to the sky. Countless young people were desperately pushing towards the interior of the square. If it weren't for the troops from the city lord's mansion maintaining order at the edges of the square, these excited crowds would have likely rushed in recklessly long ago.

Xiao Han preferred quietness. Being enveloped in this clamor now made her rub her temples in discomfort.

For this registration, only a few people from the Xiao family were participating, namely Xiao Han, Gu Xun'er, Xiao Mei, Xiao Ning, and Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yu originally didn't want to bring Xiao Yan, but no matter what, Xiao Yan was a member of the Xiao family and the son of the Xiao family head. She couldn't refuse for both personal and moral reasons.

Glancing at the noisy crowd, Xiao Yu beckoned and said with a smile: "The person in charge of recruitment in Wutan City this time is my mentor. As her proud disciple, I naturally have a way. Follow me."

Xiao Han noticed that when saying the words "proud disciple," Xiao Yu's smile obviously became sweeter.

Recalling what Gu Xun'er had said, Xiao Han understood.

No wonder Xiao Yu had come back with the Jia Nan Academy recruitment team this year. It was because her girlfriend was in charge of recruitment this year.

What was this? Dating on public funds?